Nisarg Prajapati

Nothing Phone 3a Pro Review After 12 Days – Hits & Misses!

A Thread 🧵🧵

First, let's take a look at the box contents ⬇️

✓ Book style box in which you have the following:

- The phone in the wrapper, of course, with a pre-applied screen protector
- USB C-C Charging cable which isn't transparent (maybe they're creating differentiation for the flagship lineup? Who knows)
- Documentation
- Transparent SIM Tray Ejector Tool which looks sick

No charger as always, but I was expecting a case this time to protect it from scratches at least, as this device is a dust magnet 🧲

Thanks to Nothing for improving the packaging this time, you can open & close the box properly which will help Flipkart delivery boys to unbox it easily without dropping the phone & damaging it. 🫠

Build & Design

The phone has a transparent glass back with a flat plastic frame, which makes it comfortable to hold, the buttons & the camera ring around the module are made from metal. Panda Glass is used on the back & the front as well. 

It has IP64 rating which protects against dust and water splashes.

I didn't like the camera module when I first saw the renders of 3a Pro, but it has grown on me now. 😀

Overall, it feels more premium in hand compared to the phone 2a, which had a plastic back. 👍

- The frame could have been metal
- The frame attracts smudges
- It's a big phone, not for small hands.
- You can feel the weight on the top due to the big camera module

Display

It features a 6.77" 120Hz display with 1300 nits (HBM) and 3000 nits peak brightness, & 2160Hz PWM dimming as well to take care of your eyes!

The display is bright enough outdoors against sunlight as well, and it is visible without any issues.

It has Optical In-Display FPS which works fine.

- The bezels are thicker & uneven (not the same on all four sides) compared to the phone 2a which might be an issue.

- Considering the competition & price segment, nothing should've provided thinner bezels & chin.

Performance

It features Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, which is not the best in the segment, but it's not bad either.

I played BGMI on Smooth + Ultra Extreme for 1 hour. The gameplay was smooth, and I didn't face any lags or stutters, but for some reason, it was running on a maximum of 90FPS only despite it supporting 120FPS.

I've reported it, and it might be solved via an update soon. The back feels warm while playing for longer periods (not heating).

When opening any app for the first time, it stutters; once it's loaded into RAM, it's smooth afterwards.

- 7s Gen 3 is decent for the price but it could have been better if they used Snapdragon 8s Gen 3.
-  At least UFS 3.1 should have been given instead of 2.2.

Here are some benchmark test results:

Battery & Charging ⚡️

It has a 5000mAh Battery with 50W charging.

Don't think that the battery backup won't be good due to the size. 💀

I'm getting more than 8/9+ Hours of Screen On Time on a daily basis in my usage with AOD & Glyphs ON all the time. 🔥

When it comes to charging, the brand claims that it gets fully charged within 56 minutes, but IRL, it takes ~ 1 Hour 15-30 minutes to charge the device from 0 to 100%, while charging from 10-100% takes around ~ 1 Hour 10 mins (using Neo 9 Pro's 120W PD Charger).

This issue is also reported to the team, I will update if it gets fixed before the device goes back. 👍

[You've to buy the charger separately or you can use the existing compatible one]

Cameras 📸

Specs:
50MP Main (OIS &amp; EIS)
50MP Periscope (OIS &amp; EIS)
8MP Ultrawide

4K30FPS (in periscope also)
1080P30/60FPS video recording

Now, let's take a look at the photos &amp; videos. ⬇️ 

Even more...

Periscope 4K30, Main4K30, Selfie4K30, Main1080P60

Twitter only supports 1080P though, so quality might be reduced. 

Last ones😅

Periscope 4K30, Selfie4K30, 4K30 

The skin tones & colors are pretty accurate. 👍

The photos come out really good in the daylight. 💪

The periscope camera is too good. 🤩

Ultrawide shots are decent though I've not used it much. 😅

If you use the presets, then the photos come out really well. I used them in some night photos & I really liked the photos. 👍

The Presets/LUTs can be used directly from the camera app is a game-changer. 🔥

- Night photos/selfies need improvement.
- The videos are also good & stable as well; there are some jitters, not noticeable in the daytime but easily noticeable at night.

Software - One of the best parts of this device

It runs on Nothing OS 3.1 based on Android 15. It's CLEAN yet aesthetic, with no ads/bloatware. It will receive 3 OS updates (Android 18) & 6 years of security updates! 👌🏻

I've received 2 updates till now after receiving this device (~303MB & 76MB).

The ability to use widgets on the lock screen is very useful, you can access quick settings like Wi-Fi, Torch, DND & many more directly from the lock screen. 👍🏻

I had never used widgets this much until I switched to Nothing OS as you can see on my home/lock screen. 🫡

You can customize the control center as per your liking/requirements. 

Haptics are not too good but not too bad as well.

The camera app UI has been completely changed & it's very easy to navigate. You can now use/create Custom Presets directly from the camera app & share them with other users also by just scanning the QR code. You can use LUTs (.cube files) as well, read this thread to know more about both in detail 😄➡️ (https://x.com/Technerd_9/status/1902362013990568437?t=CgrNTjW8bfz6g7Z5ny7uBg&s=19)

Now, the photos and videos you capture get saved in the Nothing Gallery App instead of Google Photos, which decreases the processing time. It's very minimal & functional.

Currently, the Nothing Gallery app uses Google Photos Editing tools to edit photos & videos but they're working on their own tools as well.

P.S. Don't forget to install the Nothing Icon Pack from the Play Store; it will force the apps to apply Nothing Icons, which don't support it

Glyph Interface

There are 3 glyph lights on the back around the camera module.

You can assign specific glyph ringtones to different contacts so that you can directly identify them.

You can set Essential Notifications for different apps; until you see/swipe the notification, the glyph will not turn off.

You can use it as a torch as well, which I think is useful cuz the actual flash is sometimes too bright to use.

Apart from this, there are features like Flip to Glyph, Glyph Timer, Volume Indicator & Music Visualization, which I've only used once till now.

So is it useful or not? Umm, I'll say yes but sometimes not every time.

Essential Space & Key 🗝️

Let me tell you how it works first,

To access the Essential Space, you have a small shiny "Essential Key" right below your power button.

- single press the essential key to capture what's on your screen
- add a voice note to it by holding the key or
- add a written note with it then click on the arrow to send it to the Essential Space app.
(It will take 10 to 20 seconds to summarize the content)

For example, setting reminders for your favorite IPL team matches as you can see in the image & video.

There are many more use cases, you can read this thread by Deepanshu to find out more about it. (https://x.com/Technerd_9/status/1900675208597397545)

This has the potential to become a daily usable feature for sure! Let's see how it goes! 👀

Network & Connectivity

- VoNR
- 5G++/4G+
- 10 5G bands
- 4×4 MIMO
- Bluetooth 5.4
- Wi-Fi 6
- NFC (they didn't skip this thankfully)
- GPS

I haven't faced any issues with the network so far & the mic (there are 2 mics) quality is also good.

Speakers

It has stereo speakers, one at the bottom & the second is the earpiece itself.

The speakers are loud, but I found that the bass is a little less.

65% audio comes from the bottom speaker & rest 35% from the earpiece.

CONCLUSION

Pros ✅
Unique design
Good build quality
Good cameras with periscope
Clean software
& Good battery life

Cons ❌
UFS 2.2
Decent performance
Non-symmetrical bezels

Users who want a clean OS, good design & battery life, good cameras & play games like BGMI can consider this device. ✅

This was a review unit provided by Nothing India. 😇

I shared my genuine thoughts regarding this device based on my usage without anyone's interference. 😊

If you find any mistake in this, then please point it out & don't forget to give feedback in the replies & if you have any questions then ask below in the replies, I'll try to answer all of them. 🫡